Blank
by Laylaenchantix101
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia was the girl who could not feel. When Fairy Tail appeared, though, that was all about to change. Now, she must help Fairy Tail find those who supressed her, and struggling to control her newfound emotions. How hard would it be, to mask emotions that you haven't felt in ten years? (semi-AU, eventual Nalu)
1. The Girl Who Couldn't Feel

**I haven't been part of this fandom for very long, but I do know that I love Fairy Tail very, very much.**

**Technically, I watched the anime first, and now I'm reading the manga, slowly making my way towards recent chapters. I do have general knowledge, though, so I hope you guys bear with me. This chapter is not particularly exciting, though I hope you enjoy it, or decide to stick around and see where it goes. **

**This story is actually based on a tiny idea I had a long time ago, though I've changed it more to fit the story. The title is currently a WIP, so if you guys have any suggestions, I'm all ears! **

**All rights go to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

_Heartless._

_Freak._

_Cruel._

_Blank. _

She had heard the names thrown around, but she had never batted an eyelash. They were blinded by fear, confusion, to actually see her properly. She was blinded by nothing. They were foolish, and she couldn't care less about them.

Oddly enough, when she was around, they never could bring themselves to repeat the names; she had even onced asked them, very plainly, why they never called her that to her face. There was no response to that, and people made sure to keep away from her. They were afraid of her. She was incapable of feeling, and it was all their Master's fault.

This was a fact that was dully acknowledged in her mind. They had shown her the object that 'controlled' her. It was an orb that could fit in the palm of her hand, and it glowed faintly. It was supposedly numbing her ability to feel, as they had put it. It had been doing its job well for over ten, at least.

She could've smashed it. It would have been so easy, so stupidly simple.

"Don't smash it," he had told her. "You'll set your emotions free, and you'll be just like everyone else."

So she didn't. She was trained to obey their orders.

Blinded by emotions, crippled by them. She was none of that. She had seen how others acted, how their tempers would run high, or how easily they could get hurt. She had no real desire to become like that.

Besides, the fact that her emotions, untapped and unused since she was a little girl, were trapped, making her a hollow shell of nothing, was of no concern to her. She couldn't bring herself to really care.

She could say she liked being all those things, but then again, she didn't really have likes or dislikes. She just did as she was told. There was really no other purpose for her existance.

"Lucy," the masters would call her.

"Blank face," the fearful members of the guild would whisper; they worked for the masters, like she did, but they could never get over the fact that their boss's pride and joy was such a heartless girl.

She knew better than to listen to them. She was better than that. They were scum, too afraid to acknowledge the fact that she was, by all means, much stronger than them. She was the one who couldn't feel. There was no mercy, no pity from her. She didn't understand the concept.

Because of this, she was sent to do their dirty work. Apprehend those they didn't like, and on occasion, destroy them. Sometimes she was the one asking for the information, though she never stuck around once her role was over. It was messy after that, and Lucy had the feeling she was not required when things became messy.

Her life was spent in the guild, and from the information she had, she knew there was no other place to go.

Her masters knew. They knew her well enough that she could never, ever care. She would never return to her father. He was the one who gave her to them in the first place. What was the point in going back?

They had never hid anything from her. She did not care. They never thought she would.

* * *

"His name is Macao Conbolt."

Lucy stared at the man on the floor, who had fainted long before he arrived. She showed no signs of sympathy at his pathetic state.

"One of our members brought him in, he is a member of a little guild that had been giving us much trouble recently." The man speaking paced back and forth, pausing only to kick the man's body, as if to check he were still alive.

"Their headquarters had been destroyed, though this one had tried to inturrupt our buisness. We had not anticipated an audience."

"You attacked a guild in the dead of night, where no one was supposed to be," Lucy stated, voice dull. It appeared to be a cowardly act, but it was not her place to say so.

"Yes, Miss Heartfilia." He looked angry, his black lips twitsted into an ugly sneer. "But we can use him. The guild has probably noticed that he is gone; they must be quaking in fear, unsure of what to do. Pathetic cowards."

Lucy said nothing to him, only keeping her gaze on the unfamiliar man. He let out a pained groan and shifted slightly.

"We've decided that we could be of some use, however."

"How so?" Lucy asked blandly. "Another questioning, Master?"

"It certainly does appear that way, doesn't it..." he mused. "Shall you take care of it, Miss Heartfilia?"

Lucy finally looked up at him, her face a mask of disinterest. "If I must, Master."

_He is the Master of the guild, right?_ Lucy thought blankly.

"Good." He nudged the man again, nose wrinkled in disgust. "He won't be waking up any time soon. Leave now, and we'll send for you when he's ready to talk."

Lucy nodded in affirmation and started to leave, before something caught her eye. She knelt beside him and rolled him over, pulling out a torn picture from the pocket of his jacket; it depictated a young man, an awake and uninjured Macao, with his arm around a little boy, several years younger than herself.

"A son," Lucy stated aloud, showing it to the Master. He snorted in disinterest, waving his hand in a clear sign of dismissal.

"He has a family," Lucy continued, ignoring him.

The master leaned forward, so that his face was only a few inches away from her. He was scowling fiercely, and his breath was sour. Still, she didn't flinch, and appeared to be staring right through him, as though he weren't there.

"You have your orders, Lucy Heartfilia."

The use of her full name made her twitch, but otherwise she had no reaction. There was always something about that name that would make her do that.

"I understand," was her automatic response.

"You are to obey my every command; I am ordering you to question this man, and once you are done..."

He drew away from her to shove at Macao's body, which rolled once before stopping. There was a low groan, but he did not wake up.

"Dispose of him."

Her face remained impassive, but she did not respond right away.

_He has a family, _a small voice whispered in her head. _A little boy, too. You'll be the one to kill his father...you'll be ripping someone's life away, out of someone else's life..._

"I understand," she repeated.

He nodded, and this time, she left, not looking at Macao, and let the picture drop from her hand. She had recieved her orders, and she was expected to carry them out. Their perfect lab rat, their perfect servant.

She was the blank-faced girl, the girl who felt nothing; no pity, no pain, no guilt. She followed orders blindly, without question, without a care. Occasionally, there would be a strange, nagging sensation in the back of her mind, but it was easily smothered and locked away, until it managed to worm its way out again.

Arguably, she would have been beautiful. But with a face that was slack, a personality that did not exist, she faded into the background, or was an intimidating presense. No one could be around her long.

She did not care what they thought, and she did not care what she did to anyone. She truly was heartless.

But then again, that was not her fault.

Macao Conbolt would soon be another name that would be lost in her head. She would carry out Master's command, and she would be done, moving on with her life. She would continue being the blank-faced girl.

That was what she believed, at least. And after ten years, who would have thought that would change?


	2. 2

**Okay, here's where we start bringing it up a notch.**

**I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

She awoke to the smell of acrid smoke.

Lucy covered her mouth, stifling a cough as rose from her bed. _Fire, _she concluded immedietly. _An attack against the guild, undoubtably._

She briefly thought over a list of enemies that the guild had, but she came up with a blank; none of them were strong enough to even think of attacking them. Who would dare...?

_It's not your place to question the motives of others. Find the master and protect him. _

She didn't bother changing into regular clothes; there was no time for that. The smell of smoke was starting to get stronger, and she needed to find the source. That would be her first step.

_Find the masters._

She padded along the hallway, bare feet cold against the tile. The sound of yelling could be heard, and the distant sounds of magic being used. She was dimly aware of a few terrified shrieks of people that were close to her, but she didn't bother with them; she hid, and once she was certain they were gone, moved ahead, not glancing back. Whether they were alive or dead was of no concern. She had to move.

The sight, in the main hall, was chaos. There were brawls everywhere, unfamiliar faces throwing themselves at members of her guild, their faces scrunched up in a way she wasn't familiar with.

_Regular people are so _ugly, the little voice whispers. _They are not worth your time. Do what you are told and go._

She quickened her pace and ran along the sides, trying to avoid the worst of the fray. Any time anyone came near, she lashed out, whether it was a simple blow to the head or a sweeping kick. One of them managed to catch her off guard, and a shard of ice pierced her leg. She stagged slightly, before returning the favor with a swift kick, dancing away as he tried to attack her again.

_Ice mage. Do not engage in physical combat._

She glanced over at him, before shaking her head and moving on. She heard his indignant shout, but ignored it, choosing instead to grab the collar of a older male, someone bearing the mark of the guild.

"You!" the man exclaimed, though whether it was from anger or fear, she couldn't tell. All feelings were the same to her. "What do you want?"

"A distraction," was her blunt reply, and she yanked at his collar, pushing him in front just as the ice mage fired a blast of magic towards her. She didn't wait to see what happened; she moved on, and didn't bother to look back when she heard a pained scream.

_They are not your concern._

Lucy moved to avoid another collison with an unfamiliar face, who looked ready to fight, but did a double take when they saw her face.

"Leave."

The female didn't get a chance to respond; Lucy moved, slamming her elbow into the girl's ribcage and sprinting forward. They were like _rodents, _everywhere and constantly multiplying. She eyed the area, before letting out a scoff.

"Pathetic."

She rounded the corner, taking off at top speed; her top priority was the safety of the Master. She couldn't afford to be distracted.

Of course, not even she noticed one of the fighters pick his head up at her scoff, and watched her go.

* * *

"Master?"

The room was dark and empty, the only source of light coming from the small orb in the center of the room, an orb that looked vaguely familiar. She couldn't bother to remember it, however; it must have been important to the master, but why had he left it behind?

"Master?" she called again. She waited for an answer, but there was nothing.

_He's gone. _

Lucy released a small sigh, which was the most she had ever expressed; if she hadn't known any better, she would have said she was annoyed. There was no point in staying here; she would leave and track him down quickly. The guild members could afford to defend themselves. Wordlessly, she had stepped into the room, ready to investigate. He had to have left a clue behind somewhere.

She strayed closer to the orb in the center of the room, eyeing it with her own version of curiousity; vague staring, though her attention was beginng to drift to the more important matters at hand. Her fingers were about to brush the smooth surface of the dim orb, head tilting as she stared at it.

_"Where is he?" _

The voice made her turn around, hand dropping to her side. The voice was unmistakably male, though she couldn't see his features clearly. His fist was literally flaming (a fire mage; she had dealt with one of those before), making the shadows on his face dance. She couldn't see any defining features, despite the light the fire was providing. She could see that his face was twisted into an ugly expression, teeth bared at her in what she assumed was an unfriendly gesture. It might have been a trick of the light, but even his eyes seemed to be on fire.

"Where is he?" the male repeated, his tone layered with what she assumed was _emotion_. Lucy frowned slightly; all people talked in different ways. Why couldn't they all sound the same?

"The Master?" she inquired blandly. "Gone. Even if I did know, I would not be permitted to give that information to you."

The lines on his face deepened, and his lip curled. The fire on his fist shot up his arm, stopping at his shoulder. Lucy could feel the heat from over here.

"I'll beat your Master to a bloody _pulp," _he snarled, starting to advance. "But he isn't who I'm looking for right now. I'm looking for Macao Conbolt."

Lucy ran the name through her mind. "The one the master captured," she mused aloud. "You're from the guild the master wanted out of the way."

He took another step. "Where is he? I'll make you all pay for even _thinking _about trying to hurt Fairy Tail!"

The blonde girl shrugged, and responded by stepping forward as well. The flames were hot, and she could practically see the shadows on her face. "I don't know where he is. It is not my concern. I was only searching for the master."

The lines on his face disappeared, and he looked at her with something that was akin to surprise. She got that reaction from a lot of people, when they first looked at her face, though didn't have the slightest inkling why. It only made her job easier, which was all that mattered. But then they returned, and he wasn't focused on the look of her face.

"Tell me. I'm not afraid to fight."

Her expression remained unchanging. "That is not information I can give."

With a roar of rage, he launched himself at her, the flaming fist swinging at her, but she jumped out of the way with alarming speed, stepping away from the orb as she did so. She ducked as he swung again, then bringing a bare foot up to kick him in the chest. That barely did any damage; he didn't even look winded, but he stepped back slightly. He inhaled sharply as he did so. Lucy stepped back, recognizing the change in the air; he was ready to use magic, but it wasn't something she had seen before.

She jumped away as he exhaled fire, feeling the heat of the flames with a deep intensity. She landed on her feet, slightly unsteady, but turned to face him again. There was an unpleasant tingle in her arms, and Lucy knew she had been scalded; the pain was numbed, something that became a necesity over the past ten years. The boy himself looked shocked (at least, what she believed 'shocked' looked like), as he observed her.

"Your flames are useless," she said flatly, rolling her neck in attempt to remove the unpleasant tingle. "You can't hurt me."

"What have they done to you?" he asked; his tone was not something she had ever heard before. Despite this, she did not react, only stared him dead in the eye.

"They saved me from feeling anything."

His face twisted again, and he launched before she had the chance to dodge. He rammed his body into hers, making her fall and gasp for breath. She tried to roll away, but he had landed on top of her; she lifted her leg, and, mustering all her strength, kicked him off, forcing him off of her. He had moved again, his head bumping against the pedastal that held the orb. Something caught in her throat, which had never happened before. Lucy stopped, clutching at it.

She remembered her orders.

"Stop," she ordered as the stranger brought himself to his feet. "Don't move."

The pedastal was rocking. He glanced at it, looking uninterested, before realizing what it was. "What kind of lacrima is this?"

"Stop," Lucy repeated, moving forward. "I have my orders to keep that orb intact. Do not touch it."

He didn't seem to hear her, only re-lighting his fist and turning to face her again. "Don't try to distract me," he said loudly. He brought his fist up, but then yelped slightly as it smacked the pedastel. The stone swayed, before finally tilting over and falling on its side. The orb fell right along with it, smashing to the ground and splintering into tiny pieces.

The boy, for all his bluster and attacks, had the decency to look a little surprised, despite the situation. "Oops."

For a minute, nothing happened. Lucy stood there, eyes dull, muttering, "You fool."

She kneeled over and clutched at her throat, coughing. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see. This was why she was never allowed to break the orb; it was for her own safety, to save her life.

Vaguely, she heard his shout of alarm, and another faint voice, sounding like a call of 'retreat!'. She tried to breathe again, but she couldn't. She clutched at her throat, gasping for breath, and looked up, seeing his eyes on hers, looking concerned.

_She knew what concern was._

And that was when she felt it. The burn of the wounds he gave her, the ache in her shoulder from falling. She stared up at him, eyes wide, her dark, almost black eyes suddenly turning lighter, to a brown that seemed to waver.

"No," she whispered. For the first time in years, her eyes watered, and the tear trickled down her face. Her vision was swimming, and she fell forward, her vision turning black.

* * *

Lucy woke up to the pounding sensation in her head, something that had never happened before. She jumped up in surprise, clutching her head, eyes wide.

_Surprise._

She stared at her hands, unblinking, watching as they shook as realization dawned on her. Memories came floating back, piece by piece. Her hands were shaking, her eyes were wide, and it felt like there was an electricity current running through her veins.

_I can feel._

"You're awake."

Two people stepped into the room, a boy and a girl. The boy looked partly relieved and angry, tugging at the end of his scarf as he eyed her warily. His hair was a messy pink mass, which caught Lucy's attention almost immedietly. His eyes were a deep onyx, which finally made her recognize him.

"You're the boy that was trying to find the Conbolt man," she whispered. She hadn't seem much of him, but looking at him, she didn't have a doubt about it. "You knocked over the orb!"

He blinked; if the situation weren't so serious, his confused expression would have been comical. "The lacrima? That was what caused you to pass out, right? I'm really-"

It felt like her blood was on fire, and she stood up, grabbing the collar of his vest and bringing him close to her face.

"Fix it," she whispered, voice shaky. "I can't be like this. I'm not supposed to be like this. I can't be like other people. _Fix it."_

The girl that had entered cleared her throat, making Lucy release the boy and turn to her.

"So the rumors are true," the girl said, crossing her arms, eyes narrowed at Lucy. "You were the emotionless girl, the blank-faced. The girl who could not feel." She gave a side glance at the pink-haired boy, who looked more than a little miffed at Lucy's attempt to threaten him.

"I wasn't aware of any rumors," Lucy said stiffly, trying to make her hands stop shaking. She felt cold, and the sensations were new. Her train of thought was moving quickly, muddled with sleep and confusion; it wasn't clear like it was supposed to be. The unfamiliar feeling expanding in her chest made it difficult to breathe, and she clutched her heart, taking in deep, shuddering breaths.

_It's not supposed to be like this._

"We've heard about you," the girl continued, flicking a stray strand of red hair away from her face. Her upper body was covered in armor, but beneath that, she wore a simple blue skirt and knee-length boots. If Lucy hadn't _felt_ so panicked, she might have been intimidated.

That was exactly the problem.

"If you know so much about it," Lucy said, standing up straighter, forcing her voice to stop shaking, "then I suppose you can try to fix it, yes?"

The girl looked unimpressed, only shaking her head. "No," she said flatly. "Even if we could, we wouldn't want to. I'm only here to take you to our master."

_Wouldn't want to...? _

She had always thought that everyone wanted to have her ability; to have their minds clear, their choices not influenced by how they felt. Who _wouldn't _want something like that? It was a foreign concept to her.

"Well?" the girl said, crossing her arms. "Are you coming?"

Something in her tone said that Lucy didn't have a choice. Even without the orb to contain her feelings, Lucy could still think things through reasonably, which surprised her (before chiding herself on being surprised). If anyone could grant her wish, it would be their master.

"Very well," Lucy said, suddenly realizing just how much she depended on a neutral tone. "Take me to him."

The girl nodded once, before turning on her heel and stalking out of the room. Lucy followed, mouth set in a thin line. She refused to stay this way; what she could do was track down the master, and make him fix her.

She didn't want to be this. She wanted to be the girl who could not feel.


End file.
